A man was sentenced Friday to 90 days of jail and three years of probation for killing 65-year-old Dusanka Zupanski in a crash on Foothills Parkway in 2023.

Thomas Warren McWhirter, 30, accepted a plea deal in November in which he pleaded guilty to one count of criminally negligent homicide. A charge of vehicular homicide — reckless driving was dismissed as part of a plea deal.

McWhirter will serve his sentence in the Boulder County Jail.

“The court has determined that the defendant’s actions leading to the fatal crash were reckless and had devastating consequences for the victim’s family and the community,” Deputy District Attorney Nevene Hullender wrote in a statement. “The sentence imposed reflects the circumstances surrounding the incident and the defendant’s conduct.

“While justice has been served, the conviction cannot bring back the life lost or undo the profound emotional and psychological toll experienced by the victim’s loved ones. Our office extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Ms. Zupanski, and we continue to stand with them in their grief. We remain committed to ensuring that the criminal justice system holds individuals accountable for reckless actions that endanger others, and to advocating for stronger measures to prevent future tragedies.”

According to an affidavit, at 3:45 p.m. Jan. 26, 2023, McWhirter was driving southbound on Foothills Parkway approaching Valmont Road when he crossed the raised center median and began traveling southbound into northbound lanes. Zupanski, who was in a BMW, was driving northbound on Foothills Parkway when she was hit by McWhirter and killed. McWhirter’s blue 4Runner then hit another woman’s car, causing it to spin and face south on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of Foothills Parkway.

McWhirter then continued down an embankment where he stopped next to a multi-use path between Foothills Parkway and 47th Street.

Zupanski was extracted from her car and taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. No other driver reported injuries.

McWhirter told law enforcement he was traveling between 35 and 40 mph in a 55 mph zone in the southbound left lane of Foothills Parkway when he saw a vehicle behind him in the center lane started to drift into his lane. McWhirter told police he moved to the left to avoid a collision but his tires caught the median and sent him across into on-coming traffic, according to the affidavit.McWhirter said he didn’t remember hitting Zupanski’s car but remembered colliding with the second car, police wrote.

A witness told police they were driving southbound on Foothills Parkway at the same time as McWhirter and saw him driving in the far left lane between 70 and 80 mph with the driver’s side tires on the median after they were approaching the Colo. 119 overpass. The witness said he did not notice any other vehicles around the 4Runner that would’ve caused McWhirter to need to drive onto the median. The witness said McWhirter came off the median, back into the left lane, and then went up onto it again before hitting Zupanski.

After the crash, a witness saw McWhirter remove plates and replace them with valid temporary plates. Police questioned McWhirter on this, to which he said he was planning to register the vehicle to the other plates but was waiting on paperwork to do so, according to the affidavit.

McWhirter had his blood drawn, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigations determined that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the crash. Law enforcement completed an Event Data Recorder on his car which showed him driving at least 75.8 mph prior to the crash.